


Teamwork

by FriedCatfish



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: A Small Child Gets Their Butt Kicked But They're Evil So It's Okay, Body Horror, Eye Trauma, Gen, POV Second Person, save fuckery, some big time spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:31:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5063038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriedCatfish/pseuds/FriedCatfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"that expression... that's the expression of someone who thought they knew what was coming, right?"<br/>"Let's teach you something NEW, then, you little freak!"</p><p>The No Mercy route goes a little differently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Teamwork

**Author's Note:**

> Working title: Chara Gets Owned Big Time
> 
> I'm working on chapter 3 of my soriel fic, but... the inspiration for this hit me. So here you go.

You're barely halfway through Waterfall, and already you're bored. This has to be, what, at least the third time you've done this? You're pretty sure you've told _Them_ that there's nothing new to find, this way... maybe you weren't explicit enough. Or maybe it's Their very, **very** inefficient way of denying you the satisfaction of ruining Their cute little everybody's-happy-forever-now resolution.

Whatever. You keep moving, if only for that momentary joy of another kill, another item, another chance to betray someone who thinks you'll spare them, another –

Your thoughts are cut off by the arrival of Undyne. _**This** _ _is exactly what I'm talking about,_ you think, smile getting just a tiny bit wider. The path along the docks may be predictable, but the spears shooting up beneath your feet... those are always a little different; it forces you to think about where you're going and how you're doing it.

This time, though... are they coming slower? She doesn't seem to be putting her all into it. Disappointed, you let yourself zone out until you reach the end. The spears stop coming, you turn back, and...

That's not Undyne.

That's not Undyne at **all.**

“hey there, pal.”

You have to be honest... you're kind of _excited_ to see – what was it Flowey called him, again? Smiley trashbag? – now, if only because you weren't expecting it. You smile at him, not deigning to speak a word.

“silent treatment, huh? that's okay. i got a friend who likes to keep quiet, too.”

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, you feel a blue spear pierce your back, and you barely manage to dodge the flurry of white ones that follows. _Surrounded._ Behind you, Undyne cackles, and Sans laughs too – not the low, lazy chuckle you've come to expect, but loud and **frantic** laughter. “that expression... that's the expression of someone who **thought they knew what was coming,** right?”

A loud thump - the sound of a steel helmet hitting wooden planks. “Let's teach you something NEW, then, you little freak!” Undyne adds. “A lesson in **pain!** ”

You feel your soul turn blue, and you're flung off the bridge at high speed. No bed of flowers to cushion your fall, this time... not even the shallow waters of the trash heap. No, you smash into a wall, and it feels like this body's spine is going to shatter from the impact.

Not yet, though. You stand up, desperate to regain the wind that was knocked out of you. Soon, you're joined again by the two of them: Undyne slams into the ground for a three-point landing, while Sans uses his magic to lazily float down, reclining in midair.

They cut you off before you can take a single step towards the exit. “No dice, punk!You're fighting both of us here, and now. No tricks. No 'regaining your determination.' No nothing.”

“tell ya what, though, kid.” Sans winks at you, still holding onto that false air of friendliness, even if it's only for one final joke. “this is, uh, this is a lot to deal with, so i'll cut you a break...” He reaches into his hoodie and pulls out...

A syringe, marked by a sharpie-and-masking-tape label. DT.

He tosses it into the air and catches it; he twirls it through the gaps between his fingers, savoring the moment. If his grin were any wider, it would wrap around the back and form a complete ring. Undyne, too, is smiling like you've never seen her smile before, dead-eyed, the smile of a hungry predator. Sans shoves the syringe into his neck, and already, he's “sweating,” though it's not sweat at all. He wasn't built to handle this; Determination was never his strong suit. But it doesn't mean he won't try.

His eyes go dim. “Ｉ ｗｏｎ＇ｔ ｅｖｅｎ ｄｏｄｇｅ ｔｈｉｓ ｔｉｍｅ．”

 _Have it your way, then._ You leap forward, kicking him square in the jaw. His head nearly pops clean off, _just like his_ _**tedious** _ _brother,_ and even now, you see his health drop to zero in an instant. You start to see the bones crack and fade, and then...

The cracks glow, then disappear, his bones thicker and stronger than before. He's not fading, and there's no dust to be seen. He raises his hand... not towards you, yet, but towards Undyne, palm facing her. Oh my god.

_These idiots are high-fiving at a time like this?_

“Oｕｒ ｔｕｒｎ．”

There's not even a **pretense** of fairness, now. Everything you can see, in every direction you look, is nothing but blasters and spears, impenetrable walls of light and metal and bones rushing towards you. Your only option is to run straight through them, minimize the time they can touch you – even then, the **burning** starts, the burning that eats away at your flesh and your stomach and your SOUL. You stumble, recovering just in time to leap over – no, **under** an oncoming wave of bones and sweep Undyne's leg.

She doesn't even flinch... but she hasn't gone Undying, yet. She's the weak link. They aren't even bothering with turns at this point, just sending wave after wave of attacks at you... so why should you? Instead, you whip out that notebook and weave in between the blasters, taking as many spears to the face as you need to. It doesn't matter.

What matters is **killing her.** Once she's out of the picture, _then_ you can handle fatso. You slam the old journal into her cheeks, again and again, and watch as her HP drops like a rock. Then, the finishing blow, and now she's wide-eyed with fear and **you're** the one to smile again as you jam the corner into her remaining eye, giggling.

“Even with your help...” She falls to her knees, but... her arm is still raised. Her hand and Sans's... they never stopped touching.

“I still lost... they still... got me.” Are they... **closer together,** now, somehow?

“c'mon, undyne. stay with me.” Her eye is turning to dust, now, and her legs are starting to get wavy, hazy... but she hasn't fallen apart quite yet.

The attacks have stopped, and so have you – _things are back to normal already? What a shame._ Still, at least this little bit of personal drama is **delicious.** You're willing to wait, to catch your breath before getting back to the trashbag.

“undyne. i can't avenge papyrus without you.”

Her breath is at once deep and shallow, a tortured and sharp sound. The fade effect is up to her chest, now.

“undyne... you can't confess to alphys if you die. you can't protect... monsterkind, humankind, all of them. all of them are riding on this, undyne.” He sounds like he wants to cry, but nothing comes out. Maybe he doesn't know her well enough, or maybe he's just numb after all this time, the subtle weight of a thousand barely-remembered timelines crushing him into nothing. “they'll kill them all.”

The wind howls. The music swells. “...You're right.”

And normally, this would be the part where she splits in two, reforms, becomes her new self... but instead, there's a horrible **squelching** noise, and her hand phases into Sans's. Then their arms follow suit – then their torsos, their legs, their other arms, and finally their heads. They both melt into a pile of white mush.

A chill runs down your spine (well, **Frisk's** spine, but it's as good as yours). _This – this isn't winning. Winning doesn't look like this._ You know what it is, though. You remember what happened before the True Reset. You remember the basement, you remember everything you saw down there. At the time, you were unfazed, but now, as the simple and unassuming little smiley face appears on the lump's “head,” you're horrified.

Because **you can't kill amalgamates.** You can only Spare them.

And as the widest, toothiest grin you've ever seen starts to take shape... as two legs and a multitude of arms burst forth and harden... as those little dots that pass for eyes widen more and more into massive, gleaming cavities... you're forced to confront the inevitable.

From their own body, they form a trident, even bigger than Asgore's, and stab the MERCY command. Again and again, they pierce it and bash it, until nothing remains.

$$$_a n Dynet̨͉͍̪̰̲̲̺͟ͅ ̛̭̱͚̳ͅh̨̝̖̦͓͠ ̛̦̗̣͍̜̰͚e̴̤͎͘ ͍̘͙̀̕ ̨̩̭̥͖̭ ̭̲̞̼͓̹͍͚̪͟V̫͈̺̗̞ ̦̮̲̝̺͎ͅ ҉͏̤̗̥ ̧̟̰̠̕ ̥̝̜̝É͔̯̠̙̕ ̧̺̀N̤̬͔̞̞͍̻̮͢͢ ̴̞͖̟̼͈͖̫ ̨͏̮̲͇͎̠͔̗ ̴̸̨̢̤̮̭̼͍T̵̴͚͇͇͕͓̪̘̰ ͙̘̪̤͍͚̩͔̘͘͝͠Ŕ̨̢҉̞͎̟̭͍͙̳ͅ ͟҉̷̡̪̹̪̠̣̼̥̣̫̯͔̞̬̣̙͘Y̴̢̘͎̭̹̯͙͎̜̘̦̤̯͉̙̘̜͟ ͇̻͔̥͙̟̩̰̥̬̳̪̹̘̺̫̕ ̵̸̨͔̩̖̤̟̕ ̷̵̢̛̼͎͔̻͔͍̻̠̙͖̝̲̖͖͡ ͍̜̺̻̩͉̦̀̕͞ ̸̶̧̞̻̯͙̤̫͙͡ ̷̵̡̡̛̤̫̟̻̼̩ͅ launches ａ ｐｅｒｆｅｃｔｌｙ ｎｏｒｍａｌ ａｔｔａｃｋ．

The screen fills up with nines, and you prepare for your soul to shatter. _So be it,_ you think. _If they can change the script, so can I. I'll just reload, and go –_

**But it refused.**

You hang on at 1 HP, even though you can't think of anything in the world that you want less. This – this isn't right, that's not supposed to happen now.

The amalgamate approaches, and you can smell the mix of fish and ash and ketchup and bile and blood left over from who it used to be. It opens up its maw, and you swear that its throat is bottomless.

Then, darkness, and there's no soul to shatter. You hear Asgore's voice, so far away, telling you to remain determined... but halfway through, it cuts off.

You try to make your move, but you already see it coming.

LOAD FAILED.

_But - that's not possible. **Someone** has to be able to save._

And then you realize, someone  **can**. The most Determined entity around.

The darkness never fades away. No opening titles, no "Continue" or "Reset." Just darkness, from now until forever.

***

It takes a while, but the amalgamate manages to settle on a form, and become firm enough for it to work alright. It's more Undyne than Sans – mainly because she feels like she has more to live for, and anyway, it **would** be pretty weird for Alphys to deal with – but anyone who knew him will recognize that glimmer in her lack of eyes, and the way she can't help but go to pieces ( **usually** figuratively) at a bad pun.

Two voices speak in unison, though one is louder. “First order of business, let's go tell Alphys and Gorey the big news. Second order of business...

“We're going to Grillby's.”


End file.
